Human Frailty
by Loyal Integra Fanboy
Summary: Seras learns a difficult lesson in controlling her remaining human emotions. Rated T for gore, some may be upset by a dead child.


Human Frailty 

The clouds hung heavily in the black night sky over London that night. The full moon was dissolved by the grey blanket through which it shone. Street lamps threw amber pools of sickly light upon the grubby pavements. The road was gloomy, the buildings standing like great monoliths on either side of the road, their windows like peering eyes at the figure in the dark, cold street. The figure was tall, cloaked and dark, and were it not for the occasional sweep of passing car headlights, he was barely visible, seeming to blend into the shadows. Even in the headlights of passing cars his silhouetted features were difficult to make out, save for his black hair fallen across his face, under the large rimmed black hat. His dark, long trench coat covered the rest of his figure. He stood, patiently, ignoring the stares of the windows, and the bite of the chill wind that sliced through the air. He was waiting.

'Alucard - ' the woman's voice pierced through the silence. Official; sharp; sensual.

'- Alucard, this is Integra. Where are you?'

He'd forgotten he'd been wearing the earpiece. Silly, really, he thought, for someone such as himself to have to use a radio device. He could slip into the thoughts of anyone he wished, and speak to them without having to utter a single word, or move a muscle. But it was Walter's idea. They were, after all, on the trail of a very dangerous creature, and it was always a military operation as far as all, except Alucard, were concerned. Co-ordination had to be crucial.

Alucard felt a twinge of mischief, or at least whatever passed for it for an ancient vampire. There was a glimmer in one of his blood red eyes. Without moving his lips, he said _I'm in position on Wintergreen Road, Master. Where are you?_

'You know exactly where I am, Alucard!' boomed the irritated voice, in a sharp tone and volume.

'I shan't warn you again – stay out of my head. Use the earpiece'

Alucard grinned to himself, revealing sharp white fangs, raised a slender, gloved hand to his earpiece, and spoke, in a deep, yet hushed, confident voice.

'You're no fun.'

'Fun is not what we are here for.' Integra retorted. 'Is the subject in visual range?'

'I don't see anything.'

'Latest trace reports that the subject should be in your sector.'

'Nothing yet.'

This bored Alucard. Considering he had once been locked in the dungeons of Hellsing manor for over two decades, he was still bored with these ridiculous Search-And-Destroy assignments. He resented being used so flagrantly. Really, what could he do that a Harkonnen cannon couldn't do just as well? He was not keen on wasting his time on such insignificant creatures. Where was the fun – or the showmanship – in battling a creature he could annihilate without even so much as breaking a sweat? If a vampire could sweat, of course. Being that he was dead – and had been for countless many years – he never needed to control his body temperature. He would always be cold. He relished nothing more than the battle to the death, the excitement of meeting a worthy opponent, one that could fight as hard and as long as he could. Simply, he had fun that way.

'I see it! Uh, I mean...' the girlish voice halted his thoughts. '... I have a visual, north east of my position, range – one hundred meters.'

Upon a chilly rooftop lay in wait the attractive, young Seras Victoria. She had red eyes, blonde, feathered hair, and pale skin. Her decidedly impractical uniform consisted of high leg boots, revealingly short skirt, hugging her curved hips, exposing firm, beautiful legs, and a police-uniform shirt that seemed to struggle to contain an admirable bust. Her white-gloved hands gripped the trigger and barrel of a large calibre sniping rifle, complete with long range night vision scope. Her red eyes peered intently at the creature through it.

'Well? What are you waiting for? Shoot!' came the abrupt order from Integra.

_Please, police girl, then we can end this ridiculous waste of my time_. Alucard thought to himself, then he thought it to Seras, which annoyed her a little.

The creature Seras could see through the scope was an uncommon sight to her. It stood at six feet tall, wide and muscular with silver, scaly skin that rippled like it was alive. The horns that grew out of its head were intimidatingly sharp, and huge, extending a foot from its ugly head, which had a vicious but pugnacious face, with white eyes that glowed. However, hell-beings only used their horns for display, really. The mere fact that one could tear a human being to shreds as easily as tearing paper, was enough to make one dangerous without the horns. Its entire body was engulfed in what Seras could only describe to herself as a white, fiery mist. It appeared to be burning with some unearthly fire.

The creature's movements were lunkish, slow, and ponderous, leaving one to wonder just how dangerous it could be. It appeared to drag its arms by its side. The creature was dragging something behind itself. What Seras saw upon closer inspection made he gasp, and tore at her heart. It was a child, a girl, maybe ten or eleven years old, in a night-dress. She had been torn apart, and her bloodied, devastated body left a trail of blood and soft-tissue, painted as if by a brush stroke, across the street. Seras gasped again when she could clearly see that the girl was not dead. She twitched involuntarily, in the throes of a death that was still yet to come. Seras felt a tear in her eye, and her hands trembled, causing the rifle to quiver.

'Seras! Engage the target! At once!' came the cry from Integra through Seras' earpiece.

Seras turned away, and sat down, the rifle resting on her lap. She breathed deeply and bit back the tears that were sure to flow, promising to herself she would break down and cry when it was all over.

_Police girl, turn around and kill that infernal creature!_

Her master's words gave her fresh resolve. She stood up, and aimed the rifle. Still quivering, but fighting to keep aim, she whispered quietly to herself.

'Lord, forgive me…'

_It was not originally a matter for Hellsing. It had been treated as aggravated burglary. A 999 call was placed after midnight. The distressed resident of a flat had reported someone entering his home. The call was ended abruptly before the caller could give his address. The operator, trained to realise the poor man had been attacked, traced the call and two squad cars soon arrived at the block, and eight police officers piled up the stairs to the door._

_What had greeted them was not what they had expected. The figure that emerged from the door scattered the officers in panic, and they withdrew to a safe distance, and flicked their batons out. One by one each was reduced to meat as they attempted to bring the creature down. One officer was smart enough to run away and call for back up. His description of the attacker was met with ridicule at HQ, but unknown to them, another listener did not think it so hilarious. _

_A D11 operative, routinely scanning the police airwaves had considered it an immediate threat, and sounded the alarm._

_D11 soldiers took up posts in the surrounding area, to contain the demon._

_When the clean up team arrived at the flat it was soon clear that the caller was a husband, and a father. All were scattered in heaps of flesh and limbs, blood soaked into the shag-pile carpet, and seeping into the magnolia walls. They had been partially eaten. Sergeant Ellis radioed a report back to Hellsing manor._

'_I have evidence of three sets of human remains,' he said tonelessly. It was something he had grown accustomed to. The horror of it all had withered from his memory after ten years of the job._

'_One adult male, one adult female, and one girl, maybe twelve years old.'_

'_What happened to them?' said Walter, receiving the information._

'_Looks to me like they were eaten. Wait- we are missing a child.'_

'_What do you mean?'_

'_There's a family photo here – they had two children – two girls.'_

_Integra ordered that Alucard and Seras were to engage the demon. Alucard had regarded this decision with disgust. Why he should be wasted on such a simple operation was lost on him._

'_The creature is contained. I suggest a D11 soldier snipe it down. Why do you really need me?' he had protested indignantly._

'_Because,' said Integra sternly, 'I have ordered you to.'_

'_I am no mere soldier,' he retorted, 'and I refuse to be appointed as such'_

'_You will do as you are ordered,' snapped Integra. 'And you will take Seras with you. You'll be on the ground, and Seras will provide artillery support.'_

_With the streets being so quiet, and a cordon around, they literally had the creature in a pen. It would be easy to bring this to an end. Far too easy, in Alucard's opinion._

Seras squeezed the trigger and the cross-tipped, silver-clad, pre-blessed bullet exalted out the silenced barrel, and tore through the air to the street below.

The little girl twitched one final time as her chest burst from the impact of the bullet, and lay still.

'Police girl, what in heaven's name did you just do!'

The voice was that of Walter, high above in the helicopter. He was keeping video surveillance, relaying the pictures to Integra, back in the confines of Hellsing mansion.

Seras' voice was hushed, trembling.

'I… the poor girl…'

'Mercy killing is not our line of work, Officer Seras,' said Integra. She had seen it, too. 'Just terminate the target.'

You are still a slave to your human frailty, I see, police girl… you have much to learn yet. 

Seras took aim again. Right at the demon's head. When she squeezed the trigger, the creature barely flinched as the bullet tore into its skull, exiting in a thick spike of viscous yellow blood, splattering onto the pavement below. The demon stopped, turned its head, and looked all around to see where the bullet had come from, then roared a piercing roar that gripped the night.

Seras fired again, and again, and the demon again failed to be hurt by the holes bursting all around its torso. It dropped the body of the girl, and with a fresh burst of sudden athletic prowess, leapt upon the parked cars, bounding from one to the other, up the street, crushing each one as if they were tin foil. It crouched upon one, and scanned the horizon. Seras had lost her sights on it, and frantically scanned the street through the scope.

'Target engaged – target is not down, I repeat, target is not down.'

The hell-beast's gaze stopped, and became fixed on something in the distance. With a growl it leapt high up, into the air, and seemed to disappear.

'Seras, is the target still in your visual range?' said Integra 'It seems to have fled the scene.'

'I can't see it!'

With a thud and a crumbling of concrete, something came down behind her. Swallowing a scream, and barely noticing the call of 'Seras! Look out!' that came from Walter, she turned to face the demon, its eyes glowing at her, slowly approaching her predatorily. In an instant it leapt toward her, and she squeezed her eyes shut as she futilely fired the rifle. But when nothing came she opened her eyes, and saw the demon laid out, pinned, by a dark figure in a trench coat. Alucard was struggling to hold the demon's arms down, grunting and straining. It roared in his face.

'Your breath stinks, vile demon.'

He unleashed the heaviest head-butt he could on the creature and leapt up. The impact crushed its face, yet it, too, rose to its webbed feet and stared back at Alucard.

'Why won't you just die? You are beginning to test my patience.'

The demon spat at him and lashed out with a forked tongue. Calmly, Alucard dissolved into black smoke and reappeared behind it. He plunged a fist into a bullet hole.

'I'm gonna tear your heart out –'

Alucard was met with the full force of a forearm blow to the head, scattering him across the rooftop. He jumped to his feet and removed his gun from the holster. His head was tilted down, and looking up at the demon under the rim of his hat.

'In the name of God…' he began. The demon hissed and circled him.

'Impure souls of the undead shall be banished…'

Click-click. He smiled as he cocked the gun.

'Into eternal damnation.'

The demon screeched, and lunged at Alucard, who loosened a volley of gunfire, ripping the flesh to pieces. Still the demon came at him, and leapt on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

Seras grabbed the box of ammunition, prised it open, and found a grenade.

Alucard, with one free hand, plunged into the torso of the demon, and began tearing shreds of flesh out.

'Let's see if I can find your black heart,' he taunted, as the demon spat and hissed, and slithered the tongue at him.

Seras pulled the pin from the grenade, and, with girlish apprehension ran up to the demon from behind.

She uttered a high pitched 'Eew, gross!' as she rammed the explosive into the gaping hole in its back. Immediately, flinching, she dived to the ground.

Walter, all the while powerless to do anything, way up in the helicopter, saw the explosion not only on the VDU, but also in the city below. A bright orange fireball unravelled into the sky, and the sound followed a second later, booming over the houses and streets.

On the rooftop, Seras lay face down hands over her head, eyes tightly clamped shut. Alucard stood over her, extending a hand to her. She peered cautiously out of one eye, then grabbed his hand and climbed to her feet. She was splattered with vile yellow entrails, flecked with the occasional slither of silver scaly skin. Alucard was similarly gored, and a look of indignation pervaded his expression.

'Police girl,' he uttered, shaking his head, 'Don't ever do that again.'

'Sorry, Master… I was trying to help.'

'Well, don't.' he quipped.

'But I did it, didn't I?' she laughed nervously, 'I destroyed the demon…?'

'Exactly…' said Alucard, looking deeply disappointed, like a kid who didn't get what he wanted for Christmas.

Integra's laughter came over the broadcast.

'What's so funny?' replied Alucard, sulkily.

'Officer Seras,' said Integra, 'You ruined his fun.'

Fan-fic by Craig Jenkins 


End file.
